"Why did I do a board year at the Student Union?" - an article by Joris Harbers

This article gives some insight into what it is like being a board member of the Student Union, by Joris Harbers

Since the beginning of my study, I always thought of doing a board year. After being a member of several committees, I decided it was finally time for the real deal. I researched several boards, but every time I had to conclude that it wasn’t the right fit for me. Unfortunately, I simply continued my studies by starting my Master of Technical Medicine and put aside the idea of doing a board year.

That was, until I got a message from someone on the Student Union (SU) board in November 2022. In it, I was asked if I wanted to come to the SU Interest Lunch. I didn’t know anything about the Student Union and even thought that it wasn’t possible for me to join the board. Nevertheless, I went to the Interest Lunch and it turned out, it was perfect for me! I even got so excited about the Student Union that I didn’t miss a single interest moment from then on.

Before I knew it, the deadline for the application letter was here. I wrote the letter and got even more excited about a position on the board. I got invited to participate in the application procedure and the rest is history.

I was mainly so thrilled about the Student Union, because of the tasks that a board member has and the role they play within the University of Twente. The Student Union is directly involved in the university-wide policy and therefore can create a lot of impact. Next to that, the board was looking for someone for the Portfolio I’m currently holding, namely External Affairs, Entrepreneurship & Innovation. This was the portfolio I was interested in the most.

My Student Union board year

From the beginning of my board year until now, I have made huge steps in my personal development. Difficult meetings that I found daunting at the beginning are now conversations that I look forward to and enjoy, my English proficiency has gotten a big boost, my professional communication has become stronger, and I feel better prepared for my future career. These are just some of the developments I've gone through this year.

During my board year, several projects have passed. I want to highlight some of the projects that I think are awesome; in the first half year, I finished the negotiations on the new contract with one of our strategic partners Grolsch. This contract is valid for the coming years and is therefore very important. It was great to start my board year with such a great contract and partnership. My successor can start the negotiations with our other strategic partner Vrumona next year!

As well as the contract with Grolsch, Create Tomorrow was also a project I fell into the middle of. Finding a new committee wasn’t easy and has taken a lot of time. However, that is why I am more than proud and happy that a fantastic group is working hard to put on this cool event again in May 2023.

Another thing I hope to be proud of – as I’m still working on this project right now – is setting up a sustainability fund. With this fund, we are trying to stimulate and facilitate every association at the UT to be more sustainable. At the moment, the criteria have been drafted and the fund will hopefully launch at the beginning of 2023!

Future

From February on I will continue with my Masters in Technical Medicine. This year I discovered more things that interest me about this study and those are exactly the things that interest me about my Portfolios at the Student Union. These are, the constant search for innovation and growth, which is something I learned that I find very interesting. This is reflected in External Affairs, Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technical Medicine.

I will look back with happy memories and wish the new holder of the External Affairs, Entrepreneurship & Innovation Portfolios lots of luck!